Russian Federation

254. During the period under review, no new cases of disappearance were transmitted by the Working Group to the Government of the Russian Federation.

255. The majority of the 193 cases transmitted in the past, concerned persons of ethnic Ingush origin who reportedly disappeared in 1992 during the fighting between the ethnic Ossetians and the Ingush. A large number of other cases are reported to have occurred in Chechnya, the majority in late 1994 and early 1995. The Russian military forces were allegedly responsible.

256. In the past, the Government had informed the Working Group that investigations were being carried out on the outstanding cases by the General Procurator's Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Security Service, and that the Group would be kept informed of the results. The Government also indicated that investigations were being carried out throughout the northern Caucasus region in the Chechen Republic by officials of the Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation in order to locate the whereabouts of 33 of the 35 persons reported to have disappeared in Chechnya. The Government suggested that representatives of the Ministry of the Interior of the Chechen Republic meet the persons who had reported the disappearances in order to obtain information which would help it to determine the fate of the disappeared persons. However, the Working Group has not yet received any information on the outcome of these investigations.

257. During the period under review, no new information was received from the Government with regard to the outstanding cases. The Working Group is, therefore, still unable to report on the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared persons.